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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28354230">The mortifying ordeal of being known</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khashana/pseuds/Khashana'>Khashana</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aromantic Character, Aromantic Toph Beifong, Coming Out, Gen, MVP Toph Beifong, and still tagged the ship because I think zukka shippers will enjoy it, yeah there's a ship in this but I marked it as gen cause it's offscreen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:21:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,004</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28354230</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khashana/pseuds/Khashana</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko keeps trying to say something, and Iroh does his homework.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong &amp; Iroh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>127</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The mortifying ordeal of being known</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, Uncle?” said Zuko, fidgeting with them hem of his sleeve.</p>
<p>“Yes?” Iroh looked up from where he was dividing up the tip jar.</p>
<p>“I’m…”</p>
<p>Iroh raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“Going to take the morning shift tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Well, that couldn’t <em>possibly</em> be what he was actually planning to say.</p>
<p>Iroh just said, “All right. Instead of your afternoon shift, I’m assuming?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. I’ll get someone to switch with me.”</p>
<p>When Iroh went into the other room to put the money away, he heard a gusty sigh, but Zuko said nothing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uncle?”</p>
<p>Iroh looked up from his book. “Yes?”</p>
<p>“Sokka is…” Zuko was vibrating very slightly.</p>
<p>“Sokka is?” prompted Iroh, putting his bookmark in.</p>
<p>“Coming to dinner tonight! If that’s okay. Yeah.” Zuko ran a hand through his hair backwards, making it stand on end. Iroh frowned.</p>
<p>“Of course. There will be plenty to share.”</p>
<p>“Okay. Good. I’ll just, uh, go tell him.”</p>
<p>Odd. Sokka was always welcome to dinner and Zuko knew it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uncle, can I go out tonight? There’s a party at Chen’s house. Mai and Ty Lee and Sokka are going.”</p>
<p>“Certainly. As long as you stay safe and make good decisions.”</p>
<p>“<em>Uncle.</em>” Zuko went scarlet.</p>
<p>Iroh was thinking more along the lines of “take precautions against getting mugged and don’t do so many shots you think it’s a good idea to jump off the roof” but he didn’t attempt to clarify. <em>Those </em>kinds of good decisions were important, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sokka came by to pick him up at nine. “Don’t worry, Uncle, I’ll have him back by midnight!” he said, grinning. Zuko kicked him in the ankle.</p>
<p>“I won’t wait up,” said Iroh. “You know where I am if you need me.”</p>
<p>“I’ll call you,” Zuko promised.</p>
<p>Iroh went to bed at ten as usual and woke up some time later with a full bladder. It occurred to him, on the way back from the restroom, to wonder whether Zuko was home. Upon not finding him in his bed, Iroh looked at the clock and found it at five minutes to midnight.</p>
<p>He wasn’t intending to hold Sokka to his promise of midnight, but just out of curiosity, he looked out of his bedroom window, and there they were, passing under a lamp that threw them into sharp relief. They were ambling down the street, unhurried, talking and laughing, and they were also holding hands.</p>
<p>Several things rearranged themselves in Iroh’s head with startling clarity.</p>
<p>Well, <em>that </em>would certainly account for all the odd half-started conversations they’d been having lately.</p>
<p>The boys passed out of sight as they approached the front door, but it didn’t open.</p>
<p>Was his nephew kissing Sokka in the entryway?</p>
<p>He got back into bed and listened for the opening of the door. It finally came a few minutes later. Iroh laid awake for at least another half hour after Zuko went to bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He <em>could </em>be misinterpreting, he thought the next day, thinking back over it. It certainly looked to him like a pair of boyfriends walking home together. Iroh had done the exact same thing himself with several young ladies back in his day. But he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. They could simply be tactile people when drunk. The long pause on the porch could have been to finish a conversation, and whatever Zuko had been trying to tell him lately could be completely unrelated.</p>
<p>Still.</p>
<p>Now that he could picture Zuko finishing that broken-off sentence with “I’m gay,” (or another word to a similar effect) he realized he had no idea how to respond.</p>
<p>Luckily, he knew exactly who to ask.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Toph,” said Iroh, coming to sit beside his favorite customer during a lull, “I have a question.”</p>
<p>“What’s on your mind, Uncle?”</p>
<p>“I…I believe that my nephew is gay.”</p>
<p>Toph straightened, instantly looking serious. “Uncle, you know even if he was, and if he told me, I couldn’t tell you.”</p>
<p>“No, no! I wouldn’t ask you to betray his confidence. All I want to know is…should he come to me one day and tell me that he is, how should I handle it? What does he need me to say?”</p>
<p>Toph relaxed, smiling softly. “Uncle, as grownups go, you’re all right. Okay, so a good rule of thumb when someone comes out to you is to match their energy. Like I don’t even remember when you found out I was queer, that’s how casual it was. It’s no big deal to me, and you’ve always treated it like it was no big deal to you either.”</p>
<p>Iroh nodded. He <em>did </em>remember it: Toph had dropped it into conversation and kept going, and Iroh had said nothing about it, but had stopped asking her about boys she might be interested in. He still wasn’t clear if Toph dated men or not, but better to play it safe.</p>
<p>“But if Zuko comes up to you all nervous like ‘Uncle, can we talk’ and generally treats it as a <em>big deal,</em> then you look him in the eyes and tell him you love him and thank him for trusting you with it and give him a hug.” Iroh nodded again. Given Zuko’s recent behavior, he rather thought that would be the more likely scenario.</p>
<p>“I certainly did not look <em>you </em>in the eyes,” he mused, and Toph let out a joyful laugh and punched him gently in the arm.</p>
<p>“Don’t tell him you already knew or you suspected. Don’t take his moment away from him. All he needs to know is you still love him and nothing will change that. Everything else will follow.”</p>
<p>“I understand,” said Iroh. “Thank you, my dear.”</p>
<p>“Oh, and Uncle? No offense, but you are the least subtle guy I know, and you seem like exactly the type of person to drop a bunch of hints that you’re okay with it.”</p>
<p>He frowned and raised an eyebrow at her, although the effort was wasted on Toph. She had him dead to rights, as usual. “Should I not?”</p>
<p>“One. One hint. You drop a mention of how cute a same-sex couple is or something like that into conversation, and you pull out all your acting skills to pretend it’s no big deal, okay? No glancing back at him to see how he reacts. <em>If </em>Zuko’s gay, he’ll pick up on it, no matter how oblivious he usually is. Otherwise he’ll figure out that you already guessed, which isn’t always a bad thing, but it could backfire if he’s scared to tell you. And you’re not trying to tell him you already know, you’re trying to tell him you don’t hate the idea of gay people in general.”</p>
<p>“I am glad I asked,” said Iroh.</p>
<p>Toph grinned at him. (Well, at a point slightly to his right.) “Glad I could be your queer spiritual advisor, Uncle. Zuko’s lucky to have you. <em>Regardless </em>of his sexuality.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Iroh decided to kill two birds with one stone and asked <em>Zuko </em>about <em>Toph </em>over dinner that night.</p>
<p>“Do you happen to know if Toph dates women, or men and women, or something else? I would like to set her up on a date, but it’s a little late to ask,” he added ruefully. He wasn’t entirely sure what “something else” would be, but he’d spent enough time around Toph to never assume he knew all the categories when it came to these things.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” managed Zuko, who looked remarkably terrified for how innocuous a question it was.</p>
<p>“She mentioned that she isn’t straight almost a year ago now. It would simply be awkward to ask for more details at this point. I just wondered if she might have mentioned it to you.” Toph was <em>very </em>out, Iroh knew. It was just that she wasn’t always <em>specific. </em></p>
<p>“Toph’s, uh, aromantic. She doesn’t date anybody.” Zuko took a drink of water, hands visibly shaking.</p>
<p>Huh. Iroh didn’t know that was an option. Well, that fell nicely under <em>something else. </em>“I’m glad I didn’t just start setting her up with young women, then!” he said cheerfully, and started clearing the dishes.</p>
<p>“Why are you setting your customers up with strangers anyway, Uncle?” asked Zuko after much too long a pause.</p>
<p>“Young love makes me happy! Doesn’t it fill your heart with joy? And it’s so easy to find people who might enjoy one another’s company! But if that wouldn’t make Toph happy, I guess I’ll just have to put more effort into it.”</p>
<p>“I think Toph’s very happy that you serve her good tea, don’t talk down to her because she’s blind, and don’t tell her off for sassing you. Or the other staff. Or the customers. Sassing anybody, really.”</p>
<p>Iroh smiled. Some part of him thought he was letting Toph get away with absolute murder and should probably do something about it, but the larger part of him liked her just as she was too much. “That’s good to hear,” he hummed.</p>
<p>“Hey, Uncle?”</p>
<p>Iroh felt his heartbeat pick up.</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>“…Never mind.” Zuko stood up and began loading his own dishes into the dishwasher. Iroh sighed silently and made a decision.</p>
<p>“Zuko?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>Iroh chose his words <em>very </em>carefully. “If you want to talk to me about something, do so at your own pace, when you’re ready. I will not rush you. But I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me anything. I will <em>always </em>love you. You know that, right?”</p>
<p>Zuko gave him a small smile. “Yeah, Uncle. I know.”</p>
<p>But he seemed more relaxed after that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sokka and Zuko were talking outside the front door, where Iroh couldn’t hear them. But he could see Sokka wrap Zuko in a tight hug, rock him a little side to side, then let go, clasp his shoulder, and smile encouragingly.</p>
<p>Zuko turned and opened the front door. He strode into the center of the room, folded his arms, and said, “Uncle, Sokka is my boyfriend.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t quite the scenario Toph was anticipating, and it wasn’t quite the opposite either. Iroh made his best guess.</p>
<p>He blinked, trying to look a little surprised. No need to overdo it. “That’s wonderful news, Zuko!” he enthused. “He’s a very nice young man.” He walked over and put a hand on Zuko’s shoulder until Zuko unfurled enough to be properly hugged. “I’m very proud of you,” he added, quiet enough that Zuko could pretend not to hear it, which he did. “Do you want to tell him to come in, and we can all have a cup of tea?”</p>
<p>Zuko gave him a weird look as they pulled apart. “How did you know he was waiting?” Oops.</p>
<p>“I didn’t, but I saw him outside just a moment ago, and I thought he can’t have gotten far.” Thankfully, Zuko accepted that explanation, and a few minutes later the three of them were sitting around a café table, enjoying a pot of jasmine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next morning, Iroh was in the back room organizing a shipment when he heard Toph at the counter.</p>
<p>“<em>Uncle! Come here!” </em>He walked back out to the front, patting the flustered cashier on the shoulder and sending her to do the shipment instead.</p>
<p>“Good morning, Toph. What can I do for you?”</p>
<p>“A nice oolong, and come around here so I can give you a hug.” Iroh obliged, and Toph wrapped her arms around him and squeezed before pulling away and punching him gently in the arm. “Zuko told me he came out to you,” she said quietly. “And he seems really happy.”</p>
<p>Iroh smiled and squeezed her shoulder. “Thank you again for your advice. It seems to have served well.”</p>
<p>Toph grinned at him. “Thanks for listening and not deciding you knew better. You’re okay, for an old man.”</p>
<p>“My dear, if you have gotten to my age and not learned when to take advice from those with more knowledge or experience, you have entirely wasted the opportunity granted by <em>being </em>an old man. Now, let me get you that oolong.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Zuko, looking up from the grocery list five years later: Uncle <i>totally</i> already knew, didn't he.</p>
<p>This fic is dedicated to three separate friends I came out to in middle/high school, all of whom clearly, in retrospect, already knew. Special shoutout to the love of my young life, to whom I literally said "but you don't know I like girls," and who displayed a heretofore unseen amount of tact in not saying "yeah, I did".<br/>(To anyone confused: I came out to each of them when I was ready for each to know. It would have seriously thrown me off my game to think that, actually, I didn't have control over who knew and when.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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